Vineyard at Hershey adds partner, Brewery at Hershey

The Vineyard at Hershey, Dauphin County's newest and growing winery, said today it has a deal with a Lancaster County brewer to begin making beer alongside its winemaking operations, which soon could move into its new facilities.

The Londonderry Township vineyard’s partners voted Sunday to add Ryan DeLutis of Lancaster to their group to be the brewmaster and run the brewery operations in the vineyard’s facility, which was completed last year, President Jason L. Reimer said.

“He’ll handcraft the beer and source the ingredients from local Pennsylvania farms,” Reimer said.

The partners sampled beers from 40 different homebrewers last year before selecting DeLutis to be their brewmaster, he said.

DeLutis has been homebrewing beers for more than six years. He is formerly a project manager for Lititz-based email marketing company Listrak, an Internet support technician for Harrisburg-based ABC27-WHTM Television, and a marketing director for Harrisburg-based Appalachian Brewing Co. Inc. DeLutis, a 1997 graduate of Shippensburg University with degrees in art and psychology, has more than 15 years of experience in graphic design, marketing and Web design.

The Brewery at Hershey could begin operations by mid- to late summer with hopes for a major beer release in time for the vineyard’s Merlot Release Party this fall, Reimer said. In keeping with the vineyard’s agricultural traditions, the plan is for the brewery to grow its own hops, he said.

This morning, the vineyard filed its applications with the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board to move its wine production to the new facility as well as to begin brewing beer there, Reimer said.